Boat and manga
Right at this moment Link is working to paint his model boat. This boat will be used tomorrow for the cub scout “rain gutter regatta.” These are races where the boys propel their little sailboats by blowing on them. At first Link was not excited to make a boat. “I always lose!” He wailed. This is true. Both his rocket ship and his pinewood derby car performed poorly against the work of other boys. This is because I did not have the knowledge to help him make a good model and Howard did not have the time. Link has warmed up to this boat project. He did extra sanding in hopes of making his boat go faster. Now he his happily applying layers of paint. In a few minutes I need to go down and have a conversation with him in which I emphasize how much fun he is having making his boat. Hopefully I can help him focus on the process rather than the results. Tomorrow is the race. I’d love for him to do well, but I’m prepared for the opposite.
After the boat is all painted, Link will be heading to bed. Tonight painting supplants his normal reading time. Usually he reads in bed for 30 minutes or more. This reading is a recent development which delights me. After years of arguing with him about reading, we’ve finally found books where he pleads to read just a little bit more. Unfortunately these books are manga titles, which are not readily available from our local libraries. The junior high school has a small selection, but Kiki has already brought all of those home. I wish there was a Netflix for manga titles. As it is, we just need to buy books as the books and the funds become available through either amazon.com or the local comic book store. Link loves these books. Looking at a page full of nothing but text is daunting for him. The manga offer complex vocabulary and storylines that are visually tempered by images. So far he’s collected the first of a Pokemon series and the first two Full Metal Alchemist books. Kiki has focused her attention on Fruits Basket. I’m eyeing the Naruto series, but the kids have seen all the TV episodes already, so I’m not sure I’ll invest in those. Any other suggestions for Manga appropriate to kids would be appreciated. (The kids prefer manga that reads backward. It makes the books cooler.) I can tell I’m going to need to clear some shelf space to house this particular enthusiasm.